Morocco at the crossroads?

Anna Mahjar-Barducci, a Tunis-based Moroccan-Italian journalist, writing in THE DAILY STAR (Lebanon), has an interesting look at Morocco's political choices as it heads toward the elections in 2007. Anna was a correspondent in the Occupied Territories during the second intifada. Her commentaries are regularly published in the Italian daily Il Foglio.

In her article Anna uses the debate over the controversial film Marock to examine the role of Islam in modern Morocco. Here is an excerpt:

As Morocco prepares for the next parliamentary elections in 2007, the electoral-campaign battle has already begun, and intellectuals and civil society are wondering which Morocco the population will choose. The elections will represent a battle between two main political forces: the liberal-socialist bloc and the Islamist Party of Justice and Development (PJD).

In the run-up to the polls, newspapers are full of debate about constitutional reforms and the overwhelming role of the monarchy. The liberal class that is trying to push Morocco toward modernization encounters two obstacles: the monarchy, which must be given credit for accepting to reform the Family Code and allowing greater freedom of speech in recent years; and, more importantly, the Islamists, who are preventing any changes in traditional Moroccan society.

During my last visit to Morocco, I was very eager to watch the latest hit: the movie "Marock" - a word play on Maroc (French for Morocco ) and rock music - by young film director Leila Marrakshi. The movie brings to light the division within Moroccan society - which is in a way reflected in the wider Arab and Muslim worlds - between modernism and obscurantism, between liberals and Islamists, and between pluralism of religion and the prevention of it.

See the full story here: Morocco faces a choice between modernism and obscurantism

The debate over MAROCK


Link: The film site on the web


Tags: Morocco, Film Cinema, Film